Equity

How to spell equity

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce equity

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does equity mean?

1. nounFairness and impartiality in the way people are treated.
2. nounThe value of an ownership stake in an asset after debts against it are deducted.
3. nounA body of law that supplements strict legal rules to achieve a just outcome.

Equity in a sentence

• The new pay policy was designed to improve equity across all departments.

• After years of payments, they had built up considerable equity in their home.

• The judge applied principles of equity to prevent an unjust result.

• Campaigners demanded greater equity in access to healthcare.

• The founder sold a portion of company equity to raise capital.

• The claim was brought in equity rather than under the common law.

Where does equity come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Equity descends from the Latin aequitas, meaning 'evenness', 'uniformity', or 'fairness', which was built on the adjective aequus, meaning 'even', 'level', or 'just'. The same aequus root gives English a large family of relatives, including 'equal', 'equator', and 'adequate', all of which carry the idea of things being balanced or matched. English took the word in during the 1300s through Old French equite, where it kept the core sense of fair and impartial dealing. From that general notion of fairness, English law developed a technical sense: a system of justice administered to soften the rigid letter of the common law, eventually overseen by the Court of Chancery. The financial meaning, the value of an ownership stake once debts are subtracted, grew later from the same idea of what is fairly and rightfully yours. The tricky spelling lies in the unstressed middle: the 'qui' is sounded 'kwi', and writers sometimes forget the silent balance of the 'qu' that the Latin aequus left behind.

How the word is built

• equi- (from aequus: even, level, fair)
• -ty (noun suffix forming a quality)